==Would like to pick your brain about an upcoming commercial cleaning==

[renegade_cowboy]

I have a facility I am going to be doing. Its approx 24,000 sq ft of CGD. The carpets were just cleaned about a month ago and they look bad. There is a film of dirty or something from the previous cleaner.

The carpet has not been maintained over the years, less than 7 years old.. here is its condition:

Various coffee, soda and other unknown stains
Previous unknown cleaning method with resoiling
general wear.. approx 100 people work in a medical call center


3 total techs
Probably doing it over two days

How much sq ft can a tech clean in an hour with these conditions?

What method would you guys recommend to be the quickest but does the best job?

The commercial carpets I usually clean, I can use my TM or brush pro it.. this will be the dirtiest so far.

Thanks

 

[ACE]

Brush pro suxz for encap. Buy a Cimex. If you bid the job right it will pay for the machine. You can do it yourself in one day.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

I bid it at .20 cents a sq ft.

How concerned should I be about wick backs?

 

[ACE]

I bid it at .20 cents a sq ft.

How concerned should I be about wick backs?

Nice!
That buys the cimex couple cases of Releaseit DS (1) and a helper to pre vac.
Your customer will be very happy and you will have a few hundred profit!!!!

 

[floorguy]

humm if they allow you to "test"

do half HWE and the other Encap and see whats what.....

then you can direct them in the direction to go

 

[ACE]

You would ask then if you they will pay you $4800.00 to test the carpet?

 

[floorguy]

I would 1st ask what their preference was....

also....why did they not know how it was cleaned before???

then i would sway them one way or another.....

the problem is...as he said...it has a film....RINSE THAT SHIT OFF.....then encap....but thats not to say encap wouldnt work before....

which is why you need to see it 1st

 

[Lee Stockwell]

Don't ASK customer HOW they want their carpets cleaned!!

 

[Studebaker]

What Lee said.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

They don't care they just want it clean and looking good. I want to make it look good, but not spend all night on it. The previous cleaner only did the major walkways and its noticeable compared to the areas he didn't do. I used the cimex before, just not on this condition of carpet.

 

[floorguy]

i have a few times....give them choices....

ADVISE them what i THINK is best....

let them chose....

landed me many jobs

 

[ruff]

Just curious.
If it already has a film of dirt and it re soils very fast (took only a month after previous cleaner, using ???) what are the chances that the same will not happen with encapping?

Since you got the job due to bad results of previous cleaner, you may want to be and demonstrate that indeed you are an expert.

Explain your concern about soil overload, potential re soiling. Suggest that you do a small trial with just encap and a trial with hot water extraction. Check in a month or two how the cleaned areas performed. Yes, it will take you more time but may win you a client for life.

I always found that if you logically explain the issues to clients and once they realize that you have their best interest in mind, they respond in kind.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Rent the Cimex, use it to precondition and HWE, I'd try to do it all in one day and then the second day touch up any spills that wicked back with encap only.

Production? What's the parameters, cubicles? 1000 sq/ft for a couple hours but eventually dropping down to 800 sq/ft or so. Open and funnel areas 1,500 sq/ft for a couple of hours dropping down to 1,200 sq/ft.

If you have two trucks I'd have two cleaning and one preconditioning with the Cimex, second day you would only need a guy or two to hit the wickbacks.

 

[idreadnought]

I have had so much success just using the cimex on jobs like that. It makes me nervous every time when the carpets have issues but the results have always come out great. I cleaned a large retail store with lots of issues including lots of beverage spots, infrequent cleaning and heavy soil load. Carpets came out amazing with huge cudos from management and even corporate. I used realeasit.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I agree Richard but if he says they have a residue and it really soiled I like to flush them out to begin with then maintain them with encap.

I have 10,000 sq/ft we are doing tomorrow we normally encap but they have had a lice issue and now want it HWE. It's going to be a pain with HWE, bad access points, patients in the way, slower production. Probably no wicks since we have had it under control with regular maintenance.

 

[hogjowl]

You do not need to go out and purchase a new machine, nor is there any reason to make this hard. Unless, of course, you don't own a rotary machine. If you are in the cleaning business and don't own a rotary machine ... then get out of the business, cuz you are an idiot.

But, I digress ... assuming you have a rotary machine, or can buy one, get yourself a few red and green vct scrubbing pads, some encap solution and a sprayer, and go to town cleaning the place. If you need any input from one of us on how to do this, call Chavez.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I agree a good 175 is nice to have but the Cimex will out clean it any day. So if it's dirty I'd rent it or borrow one.


If you find out you like it, then buy one.

 

[hogjowl]

Well sure, IF you can rent of borrow one. I suspect that is not an option for most cleaners.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I thought JonDon and Interlink rented them?

I have one you can borrow Porkchop when you move to Colorado.

 

[Jimmy L]

Not really knowing what it looked like I would use my 175/300 buffer and some tuway pads and use some encapucleanO2 with the peroxide.

Gets the coffee stains right up

 

[Desk Jockey]

Jimmy do you feel that higher speed makes a difference over the 175? I see more guys are moving to the sidewinders since they are having trouble getting good pads.

 

[John G]

I want to make it look good, but not spend all night on it.

You are worried about it taking all night? seriously?

 

[floorguy]

I want to make it look good, but not spend all night on it.

You are worried about it taking all night? seriously?

Funny I was just thinking that myself.....

24k sqft X .20 a ft....$4800

and you are worried about it taking all night???.......be worried when it hits the 30 hr mark....

 

[Shane Deubell]

With richard on this one, pre-scrub and hwe with an acid rinse. Then in future cleanings encap.

 

[jcooper]

There is a film of dirty or something from the previous cleaner.

Sounds like they encaped it!

In the areas that look very bad(main halls, spills etc.) I would rinse that crap out set fans(so you will know what it's going to look like). Then encap the whole place.

That's going to be the fastest way to get done and do a decent job, IMO.

 

[The Great Oz]

Given all that you've said about the job there's no question you have to do a HWE cleaning. I'd estimate 30 to 36 total man-hours given that it would be a first time cleaning and I don't know how good your techs are at keeping up the pace. You'll have plenty of time left over for cleaning any residual spots. Balance the return on this cleaning with the higher return you'll get on subsequent visits where you can use an encap.

Relying on dirt hiding for your first "cleaning" is taking the chance that you'll be their next ex-cleaner.

PS: Wick-backs come from sloppy, lazy or poorly trained techs. Coffee stains require a tiny bit more flushing to get the coffee out of the carpet, and a little more time doing slower dry strokes to get the water out. Hiding stains and dirt with an encap should never be your first or only answer.

 

[Jimmy L]

True but you have to consider if they will ever call you back anyway.
Even if you did an outstanding job chances are they will call somebody else the next time.

It's just the way commercial works.

 

[renegade_cowboy]

The job is on the 4th and 5th floor and I cannot use my TM.. in fact parking sucks in general downtown Seattle. I agree about effective communications regarding the cleaning, I detailed in the email about what potential issue may be and how they will be handled should they arise. I got them on a schedule to do the cleaning every quarter, so this should be a breeze in the future.

I going to do the 4th floor first, so when I come back to do the 5th floor I can touch up the 4th floor. The good thing is they understand this is going to be a process, getting their carpets back to a clean slate..

I called JD today and they don't rent them out, I tried to call Interlink but it kept going to voice mail. If push came to shove I would buy the cimex machine if its considered the most productive and best equipment out there for doing commercial work.. again TM is not an option.

With the soiling, I would give it a 5-6 out of ten.. 10 being a trashed Chinese eatery.

 

[floorguy]

what is the water situation there???

what about a steamin deamon???

 

[Shane Deubell]

The job is on the 4th and 5th floor and I cannot use my TM.. in fact parking sucks in general downtown Seattle. I agree about effective communications regarding the cleaning, I detailed in the email about what potential issue may be and how they will be handled should they arise. I got them on a schedule to do the cleaning every quarter, so this should be a breeze in the future.

I going to do the 4th floor first, so when I come back to do the 5th floor I can touch up the 4th floor. The good thing is they understand this is going to be a process, getting their carpets back to a clean slate..

I called JD today and they don't rent them out, I tried to call Interlink but it kept going to voice mail. If push came to shove I would buy the cimex machine if its considered the most productive and best equipment out there for doing commercial work.. again TM is not an option.

With the soiling, I would give it a 5-6 out of ten.. 10 being a trashed Chinese eatery.

In those situations we pre-scrub and then extract with a crappy self-contained portable {should be able to rent} in traffic lanes, maybe encap after if necessary.

by your description it sounds like it needs a good flushing.